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Over the past couple of weeks, I have been having mild muscle cramps in my feet. I put it down to foot problems that I've been having this past year and standing barefoot for long hours while teaching yoga. But last night I was jolted out of sleep with really strong muscle cramps in my inner thigh and groin. I've had muscle cramps in the past but this was really intense. I couldn't move. Only after I woke up my mate and got him to massage my leg with arnica/rosemary/lavender oil did it begin to subside.

I ended up spending the rest of the night on the couch next to the bottle of massage oil. Couldn't sleep for hours because the muscles were just on the edge of cramping again. Somewhere in the midst of this I thought of Nettle infusions. I got up to start an infusion and today I drank it throughout the day. But both my legs have been "crampy" all day. This evening I decided to try magnesium supplements.

I don't take supplements but I self tested and got a strong yes for magnesium. I bought Magnesium citrate 200 mg capsules. The idea was to take them for a few days to boost my levels until the Nettle infusions, bananas and other magnesium rich foods which I'm focusing on begin to make a difference. But when I got home I googled around and now I'm not so sure I want to use them.

Anybody with experience taking Magnesium? Does this sound like a good plan?

I do actually take a calcium supplement, because I have borderline osteoporosis and my year of trying to stop it from getting worse with diet and exercise didn't work. It's calcium with magnesium and other minerals as well as vitamin D. The reason I share this, seeing that you didn't actually ask about calcium, is that I have a suspicion that minerals need to be in balance in the body, and that taking a lot of one without the others in some proportion can backfire. You might want to check that out with a nutritionist, though.

Magnesium is a wonderful thing. It can also be a dangerous thing. I took the supplements for years until I found out that they don't absorb well at all and that they don't absorb at all without a mix of a couple other nutrients.(I think it's calcium and zinc but you might want to double check that.)

Instead - I do epsom salt baths. 2 cups to a wonderful hot bath. I only stay in the tub for 20 minutes because that's medicinal strength. If you stay much longer - it'll make sleepy and don't operate heavy equiptment. I had a friend who felt soooooo wonderful he kept adding hot water and more salt for 2 hours. He absorbed WAY TOO MUCH! and it really affected him.

From my research, I've read that magnesium is best absorbed through the skin or in a liquid form. I did take a supplement ( http://naturalvitality.com/natural-calm/ ) but it can be harsh on the system (explosive diarrhea - I think it's even on the label or in the directions to adjust according to how you poop.) It can make you lightheaded and doofy, too. That was surprising.

You can either buy or make magnesium oil. It's a salt (I think they make tofu with it - it's been a while since I researched it). You can get the food grade on Amazon, put in a spray bottle, top with water and shake. It turns into an oil. People spray that right on the spasms. It'll dry out your skin and make you itch because it's literally a salt but I've seen people have great success with it.

If you have any medications - PLEASE talk to your pharmacist. Magnesium does interact with a lot of different meds. It needs to be taken 2 hours apart from some (including the 2 cup bath) and not mixed at all with others.

Thank you both for your responses. You both covered some of my concerns. Rose Red I'd love to do epsom salt baths but I live on a boat and no bathtub You did remind me however that I need to swim in the sea more often. I've been so busy these past months that I only swim occassionaly and I think it would be good for me to absorb magnesium and other minerals from the sea water. So thanks for that. Gatorade is also a good idea. Don't love the stuff but for a few days it might be a better supplement than the pills. And making magnesium oil sounds quite interesting.

I talked to a student today who is a nutritionist and she felt that taking the supplement for only a few days could be alright. She also said she doesn't work with supplements preferring food sources, so she wasn't familiar with the magnesium citrate I had bought.... another interesting thing she said was that it is very difficult to test conventionally for magnesium deficiency because it is not in our blood but in our bodies cells. So checking with a doctor wouldn't really help anyhow.

We are having very hot weather right now (over 100 F) and I'm sweating alot. Also the local tap water is desalinated and therefore lacking the normal minerals in drinking water. I think this may be the reason that I'm feeling deficient. I did self test for the supplements and got a strong yes.

I'm not on medication and my calcium levels are over normal, so I don't want to take a calcium + magnesium supplement. After reading your posts, I think I will stay on nettle infusions, swim/soak in the sea everyday, eat as many magnesium rich foods as I can (although I already do that) and take 1/2 a magnesium supplement for 5 more days or if I find gatorade I'll substitute that.

1 Part Milk of Magnesium3 1/2 parts Apple Cider VinegarMix together. Take 1 tsp. in water at bedtime (to see if too laxative), then in two days increase another 1 tsp.. Keep increasing until the laxative action kicks in then take the dosage back down a tsp. ( I personally find 1 Tbls daily is about right).

That's interesting Lady Alinor. I do drink LOTS of water but as I said above we are drinking desalinated water which is low in minerals.

And I don't think I'd prefer that recipe over a short term supplement. Milk of magnesia is an anti acid and vinegar doesn't agree with me.

We have a Moringa Tree in our yoga center yard and I have been eating some leaves in salads the last couple of days. According to this site "Only one serving of Moringa (1/2 cup of fresh leaves...) provides a full 61% of your Magnesium requirements!" http://www.moringapowder.com/ And with everything I'm doing so far so good.

Narayani,I hope you have found a solution for your cramps. I have had cramps in my legs and feet recently. REALLY bad ones. ....

I tried first doing nothing and just observing, then I tried drinking more water, taking magnesium baths, rubbing magnesium "oil' on my legs, over the counter homeopathic leg cramp remedies, taking magnesium citrate, and mag. glycinate, and potassium, and massaging my legs, and doing yogic breathing and stretching more every evening, and exercising more and then exercising less, and eating more seaweed.....A LOT of things (not all at once of course). I also inquired to my energetic system to see if there was a blocking of energy flow through my meridians...I do feel that there has been an energy block or congestion around my hip joints so I'm addressing that through chi kung and other movement and emotional releasing work. But I know that is taking time.

Finally I found something that works....I take trace minerals. I don't like to take supplements but the cramps were alarmingly bad so I had to try things. This was all on top of a whole foods diet. The changes in my life which might have thrown off my electrolytes was doing some deep releasing work that led to looser bowels and at the same time I was sweating more than I'm used to. This may have caused a sudden loss in trace elements and minerals or just an imbalance.

By the way my husband also has had serious leg and feet cramps off and on for a couple years. We both started taking the same trace minerals and both of us have had no more leg cramps. We are taking the brand ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops ionic form.